


I'm Always Coming Back

by heroicclarke



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Married Life, What's new, waverly is worried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-08 04:22:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11638821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroicclarke/pseuds/heroicclarke
Summary: Nicole is a police officer, and her job can occasionally be dangerous. This leaves her wife, Waverly, worrying about her every time she leaves, despite promises that she'll always be back.





	I'm Always Coming Back

"But it's just  _Purgatory,_ " Nicole dragged out the town's name as she threaded her belt through its buckle.

Waverly sat up in bed, using her force of motion to hurl a pillow at her wife, "I don't care if it's Purgatory or Detroit or Timbuktu or the moon, I'm going to be worried about you the whole time."

Nicole dodged the pillow, having already expected this gesture of caring aggression.

"Baby," she murmured, kneeling on the bed and planting a soft kiss on Waverly's forehead, "I'm always coming back to you and Willow."

"But I can't help but imagine you-" Nicole cut her off with a kiss on the mouth. They remained like that: Waverly's arms behind her, keeping her in a sitting position with Nicole leaning over, her fingers tangled in Waverly's long, sleep-ruffled hair. There came a quiet knock on the door.

"Mommy?" Willow whispered.

"Yes, Sweetie?" Waverly called out as Nicole untangled her fingers from her hair and sat back on the bed. 

Willow pushed open the door and stepped into the room. She was still wearing her nightgown, which fluttered around her ankles. In her arm she clutched a stuffed bear that looked as though it had seen much better days. 

"It's Saturday, so can we have pancakes?" Her five year old mouth formed the words carefully, occasionally revealing the gap where her first loose tooth had once been.

Nicole and Waverly smiled in unison at their daughter, whose unusually bright hazel eyes flicked back and forth between them as she awaited an answer. 

"Momma's gotta go to work but I can make you pancakes," Waverly replied, already throwing off the covers and rolling out of bed. 

"But I can pour you orange juice before I leave so Mommy can start your pancakes," Nicole stood up from the bed and took Willow's free hand, leading her out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen. 

Waverly stopped for a moment, watching the backs of the two girls she loved most in the world leave the room, hand in hand. She grabbed her wedding ring off of the nightstand, slipping it onto her finger.

"I can never get tired of it," she said aloud as she walked out of the room behind them.

In the kitchen, she saw another scene typical of a Saturday. Willow had latched herself onto Nicole's middle, face buried in her stomach. 

"But why can't you stay? Then you can eat pancakes and come to watch me at swimming lessons! Mommy always gets me ice cream afterwards, but I'm sure she can get you some, too."

"Willie, you know I have to work." Nicole's voice was gentle as she tried to pry her daughter's arms from around her legs. "I'll be back home tonight for dinner, you know that! I'm always back."

"But I miss you when you're gone..." Willow responded, her voice muffled by Nicole's stomach.

"I miss you, too, more than anything in the world. But, Honey, I have to go now," she finally detangled herself from her daughter and knelt down so she could kiss her on the forehead. "Momma loves you."

Nicole stood up and kissed Waverly. Then she grabbed her keys and left for work. 

Waverly turned back to Willow, "Ready for some pancakes?"

Waverly moved through the day, performing mom duties every step of the way. She de-syruped everything ( _everything_ ) when Willow finished her pancakes, chauffeured her daughter to swimming lessons, and bought her the traditional post-swim ice cream cone.

"Can we get an extra one to take to Momma?" Willow asked, chocolate ice cream already dripping onto her fingers.

"What flavor do you think she'll like?" Waverly responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Strawberry!" 

They ordered the ice cream and upturned it into a bowl to prevent a mess, and then drove toward the police station. When they were a few blocks away, a siren began to wail. Sure enough, a police car with none other than Sheriff Nicole Haught in the driver's seat was headed toward them. Waverly attempted a wave but Nicole was too focused on the road to notice.

When they reached the police station, Waverly hurried inside, holding Willow's hand. She was prepared to wait for Nicole, most police calls didn't last very long, and she hoped that she would return soon. 

"Hello, Waverly," a familiar voice called as they stepped inside. "Hi Willow, I see you've just finished swimming, what an excellent summer pastime, I do believe."

While Willow's hair was still damp, it looked more as though she was swimming in melted ice cream rather than water.

"Doc! I didn't know you'd be at the station today. But good thing you are, maybe you can tell us where Nicole is heading? We brought her ice cream but we saw her driving away as we pulled in."

Waverly's breath hitched as she saw the grave look on Doc's face. Maybe she didn't want to know where Nicole was going.

"Oh, not to worry, not to worry. Just a police call." His voice was jovial but his eyes betrayed his own worry, noticeable only to Waverly. "But I don't quite think that ice cream will make it to her return, unless, of course, Sheriff Haught likes her ice cream soupy. 

Waverly frowned, it wasn't often that a police call took so long. She turned to Willow.

"Let's get this home and into the freezer, Momma can eat it when she gets home, okay?" 

Willow, completely oblivious to the worried lilt in her mother's voice, nodded her head and walked toward the door.

"See you soon, Doc, take care," Waverly called as she ushered Willow out of the station.

As she drove home, Waverly's sense of dread grew, writhing in her stomach and causing her palms to sweat. She peered in the rearview mirror and saw Willow appeared unaffected, her wide eyes looking out the window. She would smile and wave at anyone they passed by, even though they couldn't see her. 

They arrived home and Waverly began preparing dinner. 

"Can I help, Mommy?" Willow asked, her face recently cleared of the sticky chocolate remains of her fated ice cream cone. 

"Why don't you go draw Momma a picture?" As much as she wanted to be with her daughter, her worry was beginning to show and she didn't want Willow to fret. 

"I'll draw a picture of our family, and I'll even add Auntie Wynonna, too!" She giggled, running out of the room. 

Waverly sighed, her frown momentarily replaced by a wistful smile. When she heard the door of Willow's bedroom close, she began pulling out ingredients for the meal.

"Hey, Waves," Wynonna's voice called from the front door as she stepped in, holding the hand of an impish-looking boy.

"Hi guys. Willow's in her room if you want to find her, Winston," Waverly called over her shoulder as she opened the oven door to check on the chicken.

Winston hurried down the hall and the sisters' ears were filled with mischievous laughter as the cousins greeted each other. 

"Need help?" Wynonna asked, taking her jacket off and entering the kitchen.

"Offering help before finding a drink? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" 

"Motherhood works wonders sometimes."

"Agreed."

"So how is Nicole? Will she be home for dinner?"

"She's good. And she's supposed to be," Waverly tried to keep the concern out of her voice.�

A high pitched ding interrupted their conversation, and Waverly turned to the oven, trying to shove the worry for Nicole to the back of her mind. She pulled out the chicken and removed the pot from the stove. Dinner was ready, and now they only needed one more person to arrive.

"Should I call the kids?" Wynonna asked.

"Let's wait until Nicole is home, you know how antsy they get when they sit at the table and aren't allowed to eat anything yet," Waverly paused. "Actually that's mostly you."

Wynonna threw a dish towel at Waverly, "Hey!"

They set the table and soon enough, following the scent of the meal wafting from the kitchen, the kids made their way into the room. Willow and Winston took their seats at the table, Willow clutching a folded piece of paper and Winston eyeing the pan of chicken hungrily. 

Twenty minutes passed.

"Well..." Waverly didn't want to start eating without Nicole, but the food was growing cold and the children restless. "I guess we should start eating, but go slowly so that we won't be completely finished when she gets home.

Together, the four began to eat. Waverly tried to avoid looking at the empty plate next to her, but she couldn't resist a longing glance once in awhile.

Waverly was the last to finish eating. Her chicken had long since turned cold, and the children had already run back to Willow's room to play. Wynonna cleared her plate as she sat at the table, no longer hiding her glances at Nicole's empty seat.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Waverly. She got held up at a long call and she's running late, that's normal for a police officer."

"But not  _her,_ Wynonna. She would call or something."

"Maybe she can't use her phone, maybe she broke it," Wynonna put her hand on Waverly's shoulder. "Like she tells you everyday, she's always coming back."

Not a minute later the door opened. Waverly heard a pained yelp and rushed toward the door.

"This little fella was one of the poor babies at a puppy mill I busted earlier," Nicole said breathlessly as she set the wriggling bundle on the ground. "I couldn't just leave him. The rest of the puppies are at the station in a pen I set up, but this little guy needed someone to patch him up, so I brought him home."

The worried knot in Waverly's stomach disappeared, immediately filling with adoration not only for the golden retriever puppy in her living room, but for her caring wife that brought him home. 

Hearing the commotion, and the bark, the kids tore into the room.

"You brought home a puppy Aunt Nicole?" Winston asked incredulously, kneeling down near the blanket, but not quite touching it.

"Yes, but this puppy is hurt, so we need to be very careful with him," Nicole responded, kneeling next to him and moving the edge of the blanket so the kids could see the pup's swollen foot.

"Can we name him? Please?" Willow asked, her voice rising in pitch as she spoke.

"I want to name him Batman!" Winston said.

"You can't name him Batman! It's a dog. I think we should name him Oliver!" Willow responded.

"Why don't you two go figure out a name in the other room and let us talk, okay?" Waverly suggested, gesturing her hand toward Willow's room. The children ran out of the room, still bickering. 

"Nicole I've been worried sick about you all day, ever since I saw you driving away in your car this afternoon. Doc didn't tell us where you were going and you didn't show up for dinner and..." Waverly trailed off, and Nicole stepped forward to embrace her wife.

"I didn't mean to worry you, Waves. I'm just busier some days than others. Plus I forgot my phone at the station when I went to the car, and I didn't want to drive back and get it."

Wynonna made a sarcastic gesture of her head, eyebrows raised. "Told you, little sister."

Waverly shook her head and tilted her chin to kiss Nicole. "I'm just glad you're back."

"I'm always coming back."


End file.
